ATLANTA, Georgia -- Ever since Gus Malzahn made the leap from high school to the college ranks, one of the hallmarks of his hurry-up, no-huddle offense has been its adaptability.

From season to season and school to school, Malzahn's scheme has seemingly shifted, changing its priorities in different schemes and stops.

Malzahn's base schemes, in either the running or passing game, haven't changed. The adaptability of Auburn's hurry-up, no-huddle offense depends on the quarterback.

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn speaks to the media before a meeting of the Atlanta Auburn Club Tuesday, May 14, 2013, in Atlanta, Ga. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

"You know, the foundation of the offense, as far as the run game and the pass game, doesn't change," Malzahn said at a Tiger Trek stop in Atlanta earlier this week. "What does change is once you identify the quarterback, you build around his strengths."

A closer examination of Malzahn's offenses highlight the scheme's balance. His Tulsa offenses racked up passing yards, but the Golden Hurricane also ranked fifth in the nation in rushing his second season. The Cam Newton-fueled offense in 2010 nearly produced three 1,000-yard rushers, but also depended on a big-play passing game.

At Arkansas State, Ryan Aplin had enough mobility to rush for more than 400 yards, but Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee highlighted the passer's accuracy.

"Each year, you're a little bit different in the big picture, but your base foundation plays, you really stay the same," Malzahn said.

At first glance, the five quarterbacks competing for Auburn's starting job seem to have similar skill sets. Kiehl Frazier, Jonathan Wallace, Nick Marshall, Jeremy Johnson and Jason Smith are all dual threats, at least in their own way.

But Auburn's coaching staff, particularly Malzahn and Lashlee, have been clear in interviews that they've already identified the differences in their prospective passers.

Frazier, a bigger-bodied player, has the ability to run, but he's not the most instinctive runner, picking up most of his yards in college so far out of designed runs in the Wildcat as a freshman. As a passer, Frazier has great arm strength, but he has struggled with accuracy and pocket presence. Wallace may not have the physical size of Frazier, but he's much more decisive, throws with accuracy, can improvise on the fly and buy time in the pocket with his feet.

And the newcomers each have their own strengths.

From the start, Marshall, the junior college transferhas been touted by the coaches as a freakish athlete who "throws the ball well and has an extremely strong arm," Malzahn said. Johnson's probably the best pure passer of the group, a quarterback with a strong arm who throws a great deep ball and has the ability to run. Smith's multi-talented, a player who may need to work on his passing game but offers a lot of versatility.

Until one of those players wins the starting job, Malzahn will wait to adjust his offense.

"A lot of that will be dictated on the quarterback and how fast we can continue to progress," Lashlee said. "We're always going to do what the quarterback can handle and execute because them being successful, with whatever amount of the playbook is in, is the most important thing for us to have a chance to win and protect the football."

Malzahn has had seven different starting quarterbacks in seven years at the college level. When the base plays and base goals remain the same, adjusting the offense to fit the passer doesn't take much time.

Then the offense's flexibility allows Malzahn and Lashlee to adjust on the fly.